For neurosurgical interventions, the patient is positioned on a patient positioning apparatus, in particular an operating table apparatus. In this situation, the patient is positioned on a transfer plate, since a medical imaging examination, such as a magnetic resonance examination, of the head region of the patient is frequently carried out during an interruption in the neurosurgical intervention and/or after the termination of the neurosurgical intervention. In this situation, by means of the transfer plate, the patient is moved between the operating table and a further patient positioning apparatus, which is designed to be magnetic resonance-compatible for a magnetic resonance examination. For the neurosurgical intervention, a surgical head clamping unit is attached to the patient, in particular to the head of the patient, or the head of the patient is positioned inside this surgical head clamping unit, wherein the surgical head clamping unit is arranged, for example, on the transfer plate, and, together with the head of the patient, projects over the transfer plate.
For the surgical head clamping unit, there is a maximum permissible positioning range available, which, in particular, is dimensioned in accordance with a cross-sectional area of a patient accommodation area of the medical imaging apparatus. If the surgical head clamping unit projects beyond the positioning range which is permissible for the surgical head clamping unit, then, when the patient positioned on the transfer plate is introduced, together with the surgical head clamping unit, into the patient accommodation area, this can lead to undesirable collisions, in particular with a housing of the medical imaging apparatus. This increases the risk of injury to the patient. In addition to this, the surgical head clamping unit must be repositioned in order for it to be possible for a medical imaging examination to be carried out at all. This repositioning can lead to undesirable delays, since for the repositioning it is first necessary for a sterile covering of the surgical head clamping unit to be removed.
The positioning of the surgical head clamping unit and/or of the head of the patient is carried out by a surgeon and/or a clinical operating personnel, wherein this positioning is very complicated. As well as this, the positioning takes place on the basis of a rough assessment of the permissible positioning range and/or in accordance with empirical values from the surgeon and/or the operating personnel. This can however lead to situations in which, for example, only a fraction of the permissible positioning range is used, or, during the introduction into the medical imaging apparatus, collisions may occur.